Sometimes, when things are really bad, you just need to keep on trying, and not give up. Easier said than done.

But hey, we've all been through rough patches, and the difference between someone who succeeds and someone who gives up can be minute, just keep going. Hopefully, 2015 will be better :) can't be worse anyway. Let's 2015 training begin ]]>
Swim: water 16 degC so did the swim with no wetsuit. Acclimatised briefly the few days before, and was not overreacting with the swimmer's itch. Somehow, the right shoulder has strengthened, and the immunity system is not too over-reactive with cercarial dermatitis. This little parasitic worms take me for a big duck, but my human skin is too thick for them to penetrate That also means that with the right shoulder getting much better, a few more deep tissue massages to remove the scarred tissue, and more training, I'll cut the time nicely.

Cycling: a bit slow, but more training will come this way too. My left knee was a bit sore in the 2nd lap, but this may be due to not enough training. I'll remedy the situation.

Run: much better than last time, and I managed to run at a steady pace. Now, I need to loose some weight, which I gained with less training and worries about my exam failure, but at least things are looking up. More training needed.

Next race: IM Barcelona. 5 weeks to go, so will fit a bit more training. That's great :) now that I've got a plan for the preparation of my 4th attempt at the exam with a few books, which I've found very useful, things should changed. More training of course, but that's going to be easy :)

I'm feeling much more positive, and confident now. I've got a plan for training and revising for my exam. Translations and Interpreting have been good. A bit quieter this summer. Tuition has been good.

The tables are turning in my favour :) I've even been told to get a coach! I need one that's tough with me, and kick my backside into a higher gear.

And I really enjoyed the post-race massage, the next day I could walk and not be limping in front of my French students :) Relieved.

Reply:

thanks KP - things are looking much better. 2015 will be my year :)]]>
On the job front, I've failed the 3rd time my pharmaceutical translation exam, but I've found books to study, and the professional institute is helping me :) they're a bit in a dilemma, as an experienced translator who has failed 3 times the exam. Two clients who disputed some translations recently, but I'm still waiting on the comments 4 weeks after one dispute from the client! all that impacted on my training and performance this year, but things are turning in my favour. I'm getting special treatment from the professional institute with bespoken assistance, my regular clients are happy, the interpreting season should reopen soon, and my training is back on track gradually.

I'm going to do Cotswold Classic and Ironman Barcelona. I'm going to do my best. My professional exam is in January. I think I understand what the revisers are looking for. Not that I agree with their methods though. Once back in the professional institute, I'm going to voice my concerns.

Back to training :)

Take care

x

Patricia]]>
Swim:

A bit slow, right shoulder much better but not up to speed. The water was lovely and not cold. 20degC. Did the 2 laps in a very slow time but was happy. Considering a week ago the right shoulder was black and blue with treatment to rupture the scarred tissue at the deltoid and instructions not to swim for a while, and the shoulder having received a lot of treatment and no swimming virtually the last 3 months, I'm pleased. 2hrs05mins. And without a wetsuit, of course. But I got a few bite marks with swimmers' itch despite the swimmers's itch guard but the product says only 90 minutes so I'll have to improve my swimming to cut off 30/40 mins off my time. That'll be a doddle when both shoulders are healed properly, and the right shoulder realigned. The canoe people were very nice for pointing me in the right direction :)

Bike:

The remnants of Bertha played havoc at Cotswold 226 this year. At one time, I thought the raindrops were a bit heavy and painful. I cycled through a hailstorm I never knew it could hurt so much! There was lots of water and a very strong wind. Many roads were flooded. My legs did not do a lot of training, but I managed to do the first lap. It was much colder than in the lake I underestimated the cold on the bike and could have done with 2 layers instead of 1. One lady went hypothermic and had to be redressed. I arrived for the second lap at 4hrs45mins but the BTF marshall refused me access because it was 1.13pm. Ah well, I'll have to do more training for next year. That won't be a problem though. A bit disappointed, but that's life. No need to dwell on it, just move on, and train harder

Still, I'll be there for next year, and shall be better prepared :)

Take care and happy training,

xx

Patricia]]> Cotswold 113 9hrs 28mins 04secs Cramps and more cramps

A complete slow race.

Swim not too bad but right arm locked completely. My masseuse is trying hard to untie the scar tissues from the 2 serious bike falls at Barcelona Challenge Maresme. The left arm has been freed from knots and tightness and is not hurting anymore. Suffice to say I did not do much prep in swimming. 59mins 42s. The water was lovely and warm, and I swam without a wetsuit. I had covered my exposed skin with zinc cream (Swimmers itch guard) so had few duck itch bites from those parasitic worms taking me for a duck. Luckily human skin is thicker than duck skin and they can't enter the bloodstream.

Bike race was good to start with then cramps. 2 hours then 2 hours 18 minutes for lap 1 and lap 2. Serious cramps again and bloated stomach at the end. I used salt tablets with bicarbonate of soda in the water but the mixture with sugar glucose did not agree with me. Serious stomach cramps. The scenery was lovely and it was a nice day. I got told off by a guy for throwing a banana skin in the countryside :o A banana skin. I told him it was a banana skin in the countryside! Git!

Run leg was awful. It was all stop and go and cramps during the whole run. I had a support member of staff who accompanied me for the last loop. I was running and stopping all the time. Cramps and cramps. 3hrs 57mins 41sec. Cramps and cramps and cramps. Even had to lay down for a few minutes on arrival so that cramps would stop. Then I was Ok after about 20 minutes once the belly stopped cramping.

Total 9hrs 28mins.

Race: a very friendly race, which is flat. Lovely scenery, and very quiet reflexion time on the bike. Lovely support from the staff and the marshalls. excellent race for beginners to mid distance.

Endure 24 3 x 5M / 24hrs team with cramps

I only did 3 sets of 5M with a team. I forgot how it was nice to meet again the CPRC guys. With the constant travelling for interpreting assignments and urgent translations, I did not attend many sessions with CPRC. I missed it. It was a very rainy weekend and it was mud all over. I chose minimalistic wear. 1st lap was ok but cramps again. Very muddy and very slippery. I should have bought trailer shoes. I could not run fast because of the shoes and lack of training plus the cramps. 2nd lap night time run. It was interesting, I must admit it was my best lap. The less I could see the better I ran! I got frustrated with a guy running like "a girl and a half trying not to break her nails" Women were running more aggressively than he was! I got frustrated behind him for a while, tried to overtake, got a fast runner trying to overtake me, all in the woods at night with headlights, and shouting right, lack of concentration and presto on my bum. May I tell you that a thick layer of mud does cushion you nicely I just landed on a soft terrain which did not hurt at all Mr Runner afraid of his shadow kept going but the fast guy stopped to help me but I replied I was ok so he sped up. It's always the fastest guys who are true gentleman and stop, never the slow ones who create havoc to start with. So I ran again covered in mud. Luckily it started to rain again! Most of it was washed off :) 3rd lap I was a bit tired. 70 minutes. Previous 2 laps about 60 minutes each.

A CPRC member of my running team told me the cramps were psychological and nervousness :o All that was self-induced! :x I need to relax a bit more. Incidentally, I had failed the 3rd attempt at my pharmaceutical translation exam. And I had January, February and March which were not good months then April and May and June very busy. That could have played a part in my nervousness. I need to train more and relax.

Great venue, lovely camp facilities, great atmosphere. CRPC was a great support too. They provided me with a tent (on my own, they anticipated I was not going to share it with a man I was not in the mood anyway). Excellent event for runners who wish to have a nice atmosphere. Some solo CPRC runners did 50M and one guy 55M on his own. It's a 24 hour non-stop run with teams or solo. Great race :)

Big wheel - 7 hours (9am to 4pm) Mechanical problem

I did the 63M. Started slow but steady, did the first 20M no problem. Just steadily, then the gear change cable started to play and harden. Eventually it became impossible to change the gears for the front plateaux so I was stuck on the last 2 smaller cogs. The back was ok. I slowed down dramatically. The cable hardened again and the bike was stuck on the slower cog. Excellent for climbing, no speed on flat or downhill as I could not pedal anymore. Downhill movement with gravity (luckily I've got a few pounds extra to loose so sped up downhill nicely), and flat casual speed touristically touring the course, and uphill normal speed. I noticed there were bikers. I congratulated the cycling support on the bikes. They told me they've always been there it's because I was at the front I never noticed them before. They tried to see if they could fix the bike but managed to put it back in the middle cog for me to speed up. A few hills and I used the lower cog then the bike stayed again on the lower cog. I ran out of food. All bananas were eaten by the previous greedy racers :evil: so I seriously bonked out and went hypoglycaemic. I ended up begging for sweets and bananas to the bikers and racers behind me. Luckily some nice guys gave me a few sweets as I was seriously light-headed. I cycled again and felt better about 15 minutes later, I found an ambulance, so went to beg for some sugar. I nearly argue with a St John Ambulance nurse who refused to give me sugar but wanted to do a glycemic test. His partner said nothing and he looked down when I explained to him that I understood what he was doing and had a certain knowledge about procedures and medicine. That was refusal to help someone in danger to impose his authority. Very bad procedure. I would have gladly given him a waiver or OKayed any procedure after having some sugar first. He could have done the test while I was having something or getting me more relaxed first. He insisted on the glycemic test. That was ridiculous in my opinion. I refused and nearly told him something a lady should never say. Luckily a support car stopped and gave me some biscuits. On arrival, I ran to Winklebury Cycles but they were packed. They put the bike on the middle cog again. :o :x I ate the 2 bananas that the ladies gave me on arrival with a medal. I told them I was too low on sugar. (yesssss banaaaannaaaass I had been begging them for the last 4 hours!!!!!). After about 20 minutes, I started to feel better, and most of the light-headedness was gone so I cycled home avoiding the routes with more hills. I was happy to have done it nevertheless. 63M race with commuting 12M total 75M in total. I dranked a lot on arrival and ate foooooooodddddd lovelllyyyy fooooodddddd

Cycling race: extremely friendly, lovely support, great scenery, lots of bikers, and good and friendly staff. An excellent venue for starters and beginners to cycling with 5M, 38M and 63M races.

Next events:
Costwold 226 and Ironman Barcelona (it'll be my first ironman as Barcelona Challenge is now Ironman Barcelona). I need to rev up the training.

First, preparation for Costwold 226 and this Friday, my masseuse will try to finish unlocking my right shoulder. I've been informed that I'm a champion if I walk through the finish line under 17 hours that's my challenge. I'm the only Vet lady - quitters!!!! Yes, I'm a champion. It'll be my first full distance (bike fall and ran out of time at Barcelona Challenge so arrive 30 minutes too late, should not have chatted for so long with members of the Creu Roja). Wish me luck, I'm going to be a champion

Take care and happy training all :)

x

Patricia

Reply: Thanks KP Nut :)]]>
I made a mistake Brighton Marathon and Reading half Marathon

I do need more training for reaching that time - lots of more training, but now you got my mind racing towards more training After all I can do a marathon with no training and have done many halves with no training.

So sorry about the mistake, I was so hurt for missing Brighton Marathon because of car problems that the marathon was in my mind so much - ironically, that got me stirred up for more training - sometimes in life when you miss an event and have a major step back, you relaunch yourself much harder.


There's no Reading marathon - Basingstoke and Reading are both half marathons.]]>
I've deferred for Brighton Marathon as my car packed it all and I've got no method of transport to/from Brighton. Trains are too late for arrival in time and hotels are fully booked. I need to have the old car repaired in time for Cotswold 113. Work has been sluggish, not too bad in January and February but zilch in March No good for repairing the car. The cat needs an op to remove a surface tumour. Both are waiting.

I've managed to sit down and tried a 3rd attempt at my professional exam. After peers reviewed my work, and I prepared for six months for the exam, hopefully it'll be 3rd time lucky. Translations can be easily criticised, so despite my knowledge and experience, I was held back on style. I've improved a lot, and it should show. I've learned a lot from the experience.

So far work has dried up translation-wise and tuition-wise but I've got a new contract for tuition in Chineham, and on hearing my misfortune about the translation side, one of my major clients has immediately put me on a rota to get more work. Within 3 months I should know the result from my exam, and if I pass, I'll double or tripple my workload. That means more money, less debt, and more races

Hopefully the bad times are behind, and the tables will turn in my favour.

I'll miss Brighton this weekend, but with the deferral, I'll have 20% reduction for 2015. I'll see if the car is repairable when I've got some money aside, it's the oil pump which is burst, and I need to see if the garage can/will repair it and if the engine is not damaged irreversibly. Next year, I'll have a back up plan hotel + train if need be :)

C'est la vie!

Now, a good client of mine has given me work. :)

Mowing the lawn, washing the car, and cycling and running this weekend. I'll be in thoughts with the club's runners at Brighton :)

Take care

Patricia]]>
I started slowly because of lack of training and was keeping the running slow but steady. 1st mile OK no problem. 2nd mile OK and kept going. Then, I had a woman who keeps talking, distracted me by coming close, and I forgot to look where I put my feet. Ouch, right ankle twisted seriously. My weak ankle. The non-stop talking lady shouted "she's twisted her ankle" I just wished she had not talked and kept close to me. My fault though for being distracted. I had to stop running for a while. Walking for tough and painful for half a mile, but I kept waking to keep the ankle weight bearing and supple and warm. I cannot twist it again or it might give in for the day. Instead of resting like most people do, I kept walking. This ankle respond better by keeping moving. Walked nearly a mile before I started jogging again. Sore but stable. As long as I don't twist it again, it'll be fine. It's weight bearing and not too sore. So I walked and jog a bit. Found another lady who badly twisted her ankle and asked for paramedics. She gave up. I refused to give up. I was able to jog/walk for the rest of the race and finished it :) Slowly but with a twisted ankle. My worst ever time for the Grim but I did finish it.

Now, this year's season is over. Tough year but I'm happy. I was able to race and train (although not much) with a difficult year. 2013 is a mixed year. Failed 2nd time for an entry test to be back in the professional institute. I was disappointed but I turned the situation to my advantage. I managed to find books to translate differently. Normally I do technical and specialised material, not journalistic documents. I revamped my way of translating journals and commercial / marketing material. My clients love it now. :) I developed a lot the interpreting, which is great. Tuition was ok too but not too busy. I lost my faithful PC, then an old laptop and the very last laptop is barely holding by a thread :o I managed to buy 2 new laptops and revamped some new software for work. All in all a good year despite the ups and downs. The cat needs an operation to remove a surface tumour. Hopefully, it'll be benign. I shall do it in the beginning of the year. Hopefully, 2014 will be better :) Can't be tougher. What's nice about a tough year is that you can say to yourself "I made it." "I trained in hard times, easier times will be much easier." :) Still, work has improved, business is gradually increasing (although a quiet patch right now). I'm better prepared for my exam again. I managed to restart my German tuition and start some Mandarin (Chinese) tuition. I'm making good progress in German and Chinese I'm going to recover my fitness :) Luckily, it's never difficult for me. I've got 2014 to prepare for It'll be a good year :)

Reply: Ianm I don't know what happened at the very time. It was painful but since I've recovered the proper alignment of the shoulder :) the physio is very happy - and so am I :)]]>
Training was not given a lot of priority, so when I received my number for Basingstoke Half Marathon a week before the event, that was a total surprise! :o My PC having died on me, I could not remember if I had entered the event this year! I did :)

So here we go, another race with barely any prep, but I started steady, kept steady, and struggled a bit from half the course. Basingstoke half marathon is very hilly, and I encourage a lot of people to practise hills before taking on this event. It was a nice and hot day, which I like :) I did finish the course albeit with some difficulty, due to the lack of training but a nice lady named Monica helped me a lot by sticking with me in the last few miles, and would not take "No" for an answer. I did it slowly in 2hrs43mins - not bad when you hardly train! Even the running club was pleased to see me again after such a long absence.

Basingstoke Half course:
first mile fairly flat/undulated
11 miles of pure undulation/nice hills (do practice your hills)
last mile just slight rise/undulation

The venue is rather nice and friendly, and the support is great. A Hampshire constable did the whole course in full police uniform with all the gear in such a hot day, which is a feat in itself.

I'm glad I did the race, even though this year was not a great year training-wise. I've only got the Gim Original now when I shall meet friends, and try to prepare for it a bit.

Swimming-wise, after my physio did some further treatments, I spent after the last treatment nearly 2 days in beds with like a shoulder paralysis on one side. It happened when I brush my hair. It was excruciating, but I believe now that the last 2 falls in Barcelona in 2009 and 2012, which probably dislodged partially the shoulder or at least misaligned it, was remedied by the physio, when she eradicated all the scar tissues, and helped the realignment. Now my left shoulder is fine, and I shall restart the swimming.

Cycling was scarce, but I'm rebuilding the training. We're coming to the cold season with autumn and winter, and I shall take every opportunity to train on the bike when the weather is clement. I'd like to build up to next year. Finances allowing it, I'd like to do Cotswold 113, 226 and Classic. I'll throw of course Basingstoke HM, Big Wheel Basingstoke, Reading HM, Brighton Marathon, and if I succeed with my 3rd attempt with the professional body (which I've got better chances this time to be back on the registry of professionals), I might venture with Barcelona Challenge.

All is all, gradually I'm getting stronger mentally and physically, and I'm rebuilding the training :)

Replies:

Thanks Riri :)
Wheezy - Yes but I might get more tolerant gradually and hopefully]]>